San Antonio’s history-making singer continues rise on ‘American Idol’

San Antonio's Ada Vox, dressed in sultry black, wowed “American Idol’s” judges with her smoldering solo performance of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” which helped land her in the Top 14.

San Antonio's Ada Vox, dressed in sultry black, wowed “American Idol’s” judges with her smoldering solo performance of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” which helped land her in the Top 14.

Photo: Eric McCandless /ABC

Photo: Eric McCandless /ABC

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San Antonio's Ada Vox, dressed in sultry black, wowed “American Idol’s” judges with her smoldering solo performance of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” which helped land her in the Top 14.

San Antonio's Ada Vox, dressed in sultry black, wowed “American Idol’s” judges with her smoldering solo performance of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” which helped land her in the Top 14.

Photo: Eric McCandless /ABC

San Antonio’s history-making singer continues rise on ‘American Idol’

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“A star is born!” Lionel Richie raved. That star is a San Antonio singer, and a groundbreaking one for “American Idol.”

Ada Vox’s pipes and range are astonishing, as viewers heard Monday, when she sang Nina Simone’s torchy “Feeling Good,” and Tuesday, when she brought the house down with “Defying Gravity” from Broadway hit “Wicked” in a memorable duet with “Glee” star Lea Michele.

What makes her different, of course, is that Vox is a drag queen, the alter-ego of South San graduate Adam Sanders. She’s the first such contestant to make it to the top 14 of “American Idol” on either of the show’s networks, Fox and now ABC.

The judges can’t seem to get enough of Vox, who was dressed in sultry black topped with memorable hairpieces both nights.

Also impressed was stellar partner Michele, who seemed sincerely astonished by Vox's voice, calling it “out of control.”

“There's no denying your presence,” Richie said after the duet. “There's no denying your voice. You are a statement.”

“Your sound transcends words,” gushed fellow judge Katy Perry before announcing Vox had made it into the group that would perform live, starting with next week’s 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday shows.

That’s when the decision on who advances to the Top 10 switches to the viewers and how many votes each contestant receives.

“I'm super emotional right now,” Vox tweeted. “This is so real … our world is changing for the better”

She may have been referring to a painful past. Sanders competed on “Idol” the first time back in 2013 as himself, a fairly nondescript, 19-year-old UTSA student, and did not make it past the top 50. He was berated by online bullies about his looks and sexuality.

What do they say about success being the best revenge?

Ada Vox has had plenty of that already in the national TV spotlight, and likely is heading for lots more.